Applying so that you get answered
The uncomfortable truth is that an unknown CV from an unfamiliar country is easy to skip, and recruiters skip hundreds a week. Everything in this guide is about becoming a known quantity to one human being before your CV is judged.
What to do
Apply within the first days of a posting
Many roles are effectively decided from the first fifty applicants. A great application in week three often arrives after the shortlist exists.
Find one person inside, and message them like a person
Short, specific, no attachment in the first message. Say what you do, why this company, and ask one clear question. Long generic requests for referrals from strangers are ignored, and rightly.
Earn the referral before you ask for it
A referral puts someone's own reputation next to your work. Ask for a fifteen-minute conversation or a CV read first. People refer candidates they have seen think, not candidates who asked.
Be visible where the work happens
A useful pull request, a thoughtful answer, a short write-up of something you solved. Being findable is slower than applying and converts far better.
Track everything and follow up once
A simple sheet: company, role, date, contact, outcome. One polite follow-up after a week is normal and often works. Two is not.
What goes wrong
- Mass-messaging "Please refer me" to strangers. It has a near-zero success rate and costs you the contact permanently.
- Asking for a job in the first message rather than a conversation.
- Giving up after silence. Silence is the default outcome for everyone, not a verdict on you.
- Applying only through job boards while never speaking to a single person at the company.
Where to go next
Outside resources worth your time. We are not paid to list any of these, and each one is useful without paying for it.
Want someone to go through this with you?
Tell us what you are stuck on and we go looking for the right person.